Alexander Hetherwick CBE (1860–1939) was a Scottish minister remembered as a missionary in Africa. Based in

Blantyre, Nyasaland Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Li ...

he wrote extensively on local languages and also was a competent map-maker. W. P. Livingstone described him as a "Prince of Missionaries".

Life

He was born in Savoch in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

on 12 April 1860. He originally studied Mathematics at Aberdeen University but after graduation (around 1880) decided to train for the ministry, despite having the highest marks in Mathematics He was ordained by the Church of Scotland in the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen in 1883. He requested transfer to do missionary work in Africa in 1885 and moved to the mission in Blantyre in what is now known as Malawi. He was charged with working with the then hostile tribes of the

Zomba plateau The Zomba Plateau, also called the Zomba Massif, is a mountain of the Shire Highlands in southern Malawi. Its total area is about , with a highest point of . The plateau is roughly pear-shaped. The southern portion is known as Zomba Mountain, a ...

. In 1898 he succeeded Rev D C Scott as head of the Blantyre mission. He was a speaker at the International Mission Conference in London 1888. In 1915 he was involved in the enquiry into the John Chilembwe Rebellion. In conjunction with

Robert Laws Robert Laws FRGS FRSGS (1851–1934) was a Scottish missionary who headed the Livingstonia mission in the Nyasaland Protectorate (now Malawi) for more than 50 years. The mission played a crucial role in educating Africans during the colonial er ...

he founded the Church of Central Africa Presbytery in 1924. He retired in 1928 and returned to Aberdeen.Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions He died in Aberdeen on 3 April 1939.

Memorials

A brass plaque to Hetherwick was placed in the Kirk of St Nicholas in the 1940s.

Publications

*''Introductory Handbook of the Yao Language'' (1889) *''Dictionary of the

Chichewa Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for la ...

Language'' *''

Robert Hellier Napier The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

'' (1926) *''The Romance of Blantyre'' (1931) *''A Practical Manual of the

Nyanja Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

Language'' (1920 reprinted 1932) *''The Gospel and the African'' (1932)

Maps created

Lake Shirwa Lake Shirwa is a lake located in Mozambique. It was discovered in 1859 by the Scottish explorer, David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian m ...

and Neighbourhood (1888)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherwick, Alexander 1860 births 1939 deaths Clergy from Aberdeenshire Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in Malawi